May everyone have a blessed day of thanks with family, friends, food, and football.

Reminder, if you have some spare shekels in the couch, please kick em Fred's way. We are truly living in interesting and uncertain times, and the Burg is an unmatched resource in staying on top of things. Our CiC would do well to read it

#1
Thank you for this post, Frank. In the crush of keeping this place going while Fred recovers from surgery, we completely forgot.

There's so much to be thankful for: family, friends, Rantburg and the internet overall, and the fact the beloved presidents Erdogan and Putin are backing away from the next big one... and of course football. Happy Thanksgiving!

A coordinated suicide attack plot on Kandahar provincial government compound was foiled with the detention of two suspected militants.

According to the local government officials, the two suspects were arrested during an operation by the Afghan Intelligence – National Directorate of Security (NDS) operatives.

The officials further added that the two suspects belonged to Taliban commander Mullah Bozorg who are actively operating on Kandahar-Helmand highway and within the Kandahar city.

The two suspects were identified as Lal Mohammad who is originally a resident of Panjwai district of Kandahar province and Abdul Wali who is a resident of Zherai district.

According to the officials, the two militants were instructed to detonate a rickshaw vehicle packed with artillery shells in front of the entrance of government compound.

The Taliban militants group has not commented regarding the report so far.

Kandahar is among the relatively volatile provinces in southern Afghanistan where anti-government armed militant groups are actively operating in its various districts and often carry out insurgency activities.

This comes as at least six people, including four militants and a suicide bomber were killed after launching an attack in Arghandab district last week.

A drone strike carried out the coalition forces in eastern Nangarhar province has killed a Taliban shadow district governor, Ministry of Defense and Nangarhar’s police HQ announced on Wednesday.

According to a statement released by the ministry, Qari Salim the so-called governor for Gushta District and one of his companions was killed in Mohmand Dara District on Tuesday.

“two militants were killed in an airstrike in Dabila area of Mohmand Dara District around 5 o’clock yesterday, among them is a so-called district governor of armed militants,” a statement released by Nangarhar police HQ’s spokesperson Colonel Hazrat Hussain Mashriqiwal.

Yesterday’s air strike was at least the 3rd one carried out by Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) in Nangarhar this month.

12 militants including Noor Rahman the Taliban shadow governor for Khogyani District were killed in a drone strike on November 14 and 33 were killed in an air strike in Gulai area of Ghanikhil District on November 7.

A military convoy belonging to African Union troops in Somalia (AMISOM) have been targeted in double bomb blasts in the southern Somali coastal town of Marko on Wednesday, reports said.

AMISOM’s convoy were hit roadside bombs believed to have been planted on the ground by Al shabaab while passing at Rusia area in Marko town, Lower Shabelle regional capital, according to the reports. The figures of the casualties were not immediately known.

After the blasts, AMISOM soldiers have sealed off the scene of the explosions and randomly opened fire on innocent civilians who were nearby the area of the attack, causing deaths and injuries.

AMISOM did not comment on the incident in Marko today and whether their soldiers sustained injures from the land mine blasts.

At least twenty people have been arrested in a massive security operation carried out by Somali troops in the central Somali town of Bula-Burde, an official said Wednesday.

Confirming the incident, Bulo-Burde district commissioner Abdulaziz Durow said the troops launched a house-to-house search across the city and detained 20 people on suspicion of being Al shabaab members.

“The operation was aimed at securing the town and protect Al shabaab attacks. The suspects are being interrogated at the police station. The innocents will freed soon and the everyone found guilty will be put on trail,” said Mr Durow.

Bulo-burde, is a former al shabaab stronghold located in central Somalia’s Hiiraan region, some 200km (125 miles) north of the Somali capital, Mogadishu.

Three more people were murdered in Ajdabiya today in one of its worst days of violence so far. They have been named as Ageela Sameen, Faiez Sardeena and Walid Shaari. they were shot in separate incidents. All were involved in security.

Sardeena was working for the town’s criminal investigation department, another member of which, Hamza Senussi, was murdered last week.

Shaari, said to be a Salfist, was killed first. The other two are reported to have been shot dead as they went to give their condolences to Shaari’s family.

The town, south of Benghazi has endured a spate of assassinations and attempted assassinations in recent weeks, making it the most dangerous place in the country. The violence and the targets, which include imams, mirrors that in Derna last year before it fell into the hands of Islamic State forces.

IS and its increasingly close ally, the Ajdabiya Revolutionaries’ Shoura Council, stand accused of the wave of killings.

Hey, I know: Let's blame Bush!
Reports that a section of the Libyan air force loyal to the General National Congress and its chief of staff carried out strike on Sirte and managed to kill a number of Islamic State (IS) commanders are not true, the Libya Herald has been told by a source in the town.

According to the source, the strike was carried out on Monday by members of the Furjan tribe who were part of Al-Jalat Brigade. In a hit-and-run operation south of Ghardabiya airbase, they launched a missile attack on IS forces, allegedly killing and wounding a number IS fighters before pulling out.

In Tripoli and elsewhere, however, it was being reported yesterday that the air force had carried out two raids on Sirte, on ammunition and storage facilities in the suburbs of Abu Hadi and Al-Dahair and that as many as seven people had been killed, including two senior IS commanders. One of them was named as Abu Jalal Al-Maghrabi, allegedly the head of IS’ media office.

Appearing to confirm the fact that no such air raid had taken place, the spokesman for general chief of staff, Ali Sheikhi, he said that he did not have information about it.

[AnNahar] A U.N. employee was killed Tuesday in an attack on a peacekeeping convoy in northern Mali, Secretary General the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon said.

The attackers used explosives on the road from Goundam to Timbuktu where the vehicles from the U.N. MINUSMA force were traveling, he said.

Ban condemned the attack in which a civilian staff member was killed and said such actions "will not alter the determination of the United Nations...aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society... to support the Malian people and the grinding of the peace processor."

The attack came just days after Islamist gunnies stormed a luxury hotel in Bamako, killing at least 20 people and taking hostages before Malian, French and U.S. troops moved in to end the siege.

Northern Mali fell under the control of Tuareg rebels and jihadist groups linked to Al-Qaeda in mid-2012 before they were beaten back by a French-led operation in early 2013.

In June, the two main armed factions signed a peace deal to end the conflict in the north, but some splinter groups are opposing the agreement.

Two separate jihadist groups have grabbed credit for the assault on the Radisson Blu hotel in Bamako on Friday: the Al-Murabitoun group, an Al-Qaeda affiliate led by notorious one-eyed Algerian murderous Moslem Mokhtar Belmokhtar, and the Macina Liberation Front (LWF) from central Mali.

The United Nations has deployed some 10,200 peacekeepers in Mali to help restore order after the Islamist takeover in the north but the mission has come under repeated attacks.

“The leaflets urged residents in Al Jawf to oppose the coup rebels and join legitimacy in the country,” a resident told the network.

In a separate development, the national army and resistance fighters made more gains on the ground on Wednesday as they pushed ahead with their offensive to liberate the Southwestern town of Taiz, resistance sources said.

They said the fighters swept across Western Taiz and seized Al Kassara position, which has been under coup rebel control.

“The position is now under full army and resistance control…scores of Houthis were killed or wounded during the fighting,” one source said, adding that the allies are now around one km from Al Rahida city in Western Taiz.

Hundreds of national Yemeni army soldiers and resistance fighters were seen heading for the strategic Bab Al Mandeb Red Sea waterway as part of reinforcements to support the offensive to liberate Taiz province from the Iranian-backed coup rebels.

A U-Tube film, published by Yemen Press, showed a large column of military vans and armored vehicles were headed for Dhabab area just near the waterway.

The network quoted military sources as saying the reinforcements were sent to support a final offensive against the Houthis and their allies to eject them from Taiz.

Arab coalition forces backed by units of the Yemeni national army have made advances in their march towards Taiz. They managed to retake some sites from the control of Houthi militas and forces loyal to ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Arab forces took control of Al Kasara site near Najd Qasim and Dabab area, west of Taiz. Troops regrouped offensive lines and launched a ferocious battle in which several Houthi militia members were killed. Some areas of Al Misrakh district of Taiz were also liberated. The government forces are now only 2km away from Al Rahda district.

The Arab coalition's air forces bombed an assembly area of the militias in Demna opposite Al Saqee dam in which a Houthi leader called Abu Hilal along with several others were killed.

A sting operation carried out by the resistance forces at Azzan area in Al Waziyah district resulted in killing seven Houthis militias and rebels loyal to Saleh.

According information available here, military reinforcements from Wadia had been delivered to the Yemeni army in city of Marib. The reinforcement includes ammunition, armoured vehicles, and heavy artillery in preparation for the liberation of Sirwah.

Unconfirmed information points to a deal on prisoners swap between Houthis and the government forces at Bihan district of Shabwa governorate, southeast of Yemen. A total of 17 Houthis were exchanged for eight resistance forces loyal to the government.

President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday that Turkey did not want any escalation after it shot down a Russian warplane near the Syrian border, saying it had simply acted to defend its own security and the “rights of our brothers” in Syria.

But while neither side has shown any interest in a military escalation, Russia has made clear it will exact economic revenge through trade and tourism. Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said on Wednesday that important joint projects could be cancelled and Turkish firms could lose Russian market share.

The downing of the jet on Tuesday was one of the most serious publicly acknowledged clashes between a NATO member and Russia for half a century, and further complicated international efforts to battle Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militants in Syria.

Russia’s foreign minister on Wednesday said the downing of its fighter jet by Turkey appeared to be a “planned provocation” but said the countries would not go to war over the incident.

“We have serious doubts about this being an unpremeditated act, it really looks like a planned provocation,” Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said at a press conference in Moscow after speaking with Turkish counterpart Mevlut
Cavusoglu.

“We do not plan to go to war with Turkey, our attitude toward the Turkish people has not changed,” Lavrov added, stressing that Moscow would however “seriously reevaluate” its ties with Ankara.

“Such attacks are absolutely unacceptable,” he said.

Lavrov also backed a proposal by French President Francois Hollande to close off the Syrian-Turkish border to prevent fighters from flooding into Syria, saying the idea may be raised by Hollande during his visit to Moscow on Thursday.

Russian authorities reacted furiously to the downing of the Russian Su-24 warplane on the Syrian border on Tuesday, with President Vladimir Putin calling it a “stab in the back committed by accomplices of terrorists.”

Ankara and Moscow are already on rival sides in the Syrian civil war that has lasted over four years, with Turkey wanting to see the ouster of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad while Russia remains one of his last remaining allies.

[A] Turkish convoy has been hit by apparent airstrikes in northwestern Syria. Footage released online by the Istanbul-based Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH) shows plumes of smoke from the burning trucks and people running about in panic. At least 20 trucks were engulfed in flames. The mission, however, wasn’t sponsored or organized by the IHH, the group said. No organization has as yet confirmed that the convoy belonged to them.

DAMASCUS – The Russian government announced Wednesday that Turkey may have planned the downing of one of its fighter jets near the Syrian border.

What was your first clue, Ivan -- the Sidewinders?

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that the Turkish attack on the Russian warplane earlier on Tuesday appeared to be “an ambush”.

“The attack looks very much like a planned provocation,” Lavrov told reporters in Moscow on Wednesday, adding that Turkey was defending Syrian rebels against the government forces in the area where the downing of the Russian warplane took place.

“We can’t leave what happened without a response,” the Russian FM said.

On the other hand, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a statement that the Russian fighter jet was downed “after failing to heed multiple warnings and crossing into Turkey’s airspace”.

“We certainly don’t have any idea to escalate this issue,” Erdogan said.

"We made our point."

Subsequent to the incident on Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a press conference: “Our plane was shot down on Syrian territory by an air-to-air missile from an F-16. It fell on Syrian territory 4 kilometers from the Turkish border. It was flying at 6,000 meters 1 kilometer from Turkish territory when it was attacked.”

Putin considered Turkey’s downing of the Russian jet “a stab in the back”.

One of the Russian pilots who was rescued by special forces stressed that they have not received any warnings by the Turkish army before shooting down the warplane.

“If they’d wanted to warn us, they could have shown themselves, taking a parallel course,” the pilot said. “But there was nothing. And the rocket hit the tail of our plane suddenly. We didn’t even get a visual of it in time to take evasive action.”

If the Turks had indeed flown up next to you what would you have done?

Moscow revealed Wednesday its plan to deploy an S-400 air-defense system at the Latakia military base in western Syria and provide air support for its warplanes from a cruiser in the Mediterranean Sea and by dispatching fighter jets to accompany bombing missions.

#2
Turkey's claim that they "warned" the Russian pilot somehow reminds me of what my Navy boss told me about rules for sentries: they were supposed to say "Halt!" three times before opening fire. According to my boss, what you would likely get from some nervous 18-19 year old would be "halthalthaltbang"

[Hurriyet] Four members of the Islamic State...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) have been captured in two separate provinces, the Turkish General Staff has said in a written statement.

The general staff said Nov. 25 that two Russian citizens identified to be ISIL members were detained in an operation in the northwestern province of Bursa.

Dogan News Agency reported that the Bursa operation was conducted in the Gursu district.

In the southeastern province of Kilis, two foreign nationals were captured in the Elbeyli district as they attempted to cross into Syria from The Sick Man of Europe Turkey...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... on Nov. 25, the general staff added.

The military operations in the eastern provinces of Siirt, Bitlis, Van as well as in the southeastern provinces of Mardin, Diyarbakir and Sanlirurfa, were still ongoing, it added.

Turkey has stepped up anti-terror operations against ISIL after the group was implicated in the Oct. 10 Ankara blasts, the twin bombings that killed more than 100 civilians and maimed hundreds of others ahead of a peace demonstration outside a train station in Ankara.

More than 1,000 suspects have been detained on suspicion of ISIL links since the beginning of the year.

Ankara, however, declared what it described as a "synchronized war on terror" in July, referring to both the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and ISIL.

#1
I can believe the "Russian citizens" part but I have my doubts about the "ISIL member" part. That part of the world has elevated the practice of "give a dog a bad name and then hang him" to a fine art.

[Hurriyet] The southeastern town of Cizre has become a ghost town following festivities during a 12-hour curfew imposed for military operations against outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) holy warriors, which left one police officer killed.

Having seen a number of curfews over the past several months, with the latest in place for 12 hours, Cizre has become a ghost town, whose pictures show vehicles burnt, buildings with bullet damage on their outer walls, stores with window glass smashed, homes destroyed and looted, pavement cracked and several other damages in the curfew-hit town. The latest curfew was imposed at 2 p.m. on Nov. 24 and lifted at 6 a.m. on Nov. 25.

During the anti-terror operation on Nov. 24, the police officer identified as Umut Tuncay was injured during festivities with holy warriors in Cizre, a district in the southeastern province of Sirnak, but later departed this vale of tears at the Cizre Public Hospital where he was taken for treatment, the Sirnak Governor's Office said in a written statement.

The governor's office added that Tuncay was killed after PKK holy warriors shot up a checkpoint in Cizre's Yafes neighborhood on Nov. 24.

"In operations launched to capture the perpetrators of the attack, five PKK holy warriors were killed," said the governor's office, adding that the operation was ongoing.

In a separate incident in Sirnak's Idil district, a police officer was injured after PKK holy warriors fired shots with automatic guns at a police convoy patrolling a major road around 12 p.m. on Nov. 25.

The festivities between security forces and holy warriors from the outlawed organization were reported to be ongoing and the injured police officer was taken to the Idil Public Hospital for treatment.

The Sick Man of Europe Turkey...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... has stepped up efforts to secure its borders and nearby areas in its east and southeast in particular, with cross-border military operations, aerial campaigns and domestic operations against PKK holy warriors.

The indeterminate curfew in Nusaybin, a district in the southeastern province of Mardin, is on its 14th day on Nov. 26, with anti-terror operations reportedly ongoing in the southeastern town.

Meanwhile,...back at the wreckage, Captain Poindexter awoke groggily, his hand still stuck in the Ming vase... Turkish police detained more than 30 suspected members of the PKK in multiple raids in Istanbul and Ankara on Nov. 25.

[Rudaw] Turkish jets reportedly resumed fresh bombings against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) on Wednesday, hitting positions in Zakho near the Kurdistan region's border with The Sick Man of Europe Turkey...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire...."Turkish F16 warplanes are continually bombing PKK bases in the area of Barwari Balla and Kesta village in the town of Zakho," said a Rudaw news hound from the scene.

Makes me wonder how the Turks would react if a couple Iraqi F-16s shot down a Turkish warbird in Iraqi airspace...

There were no immediate reports of casualties, since the attacks were ongoing, he said.

"Before they bombed their targets, they [the warplanes] inspected the area a while ago," the news hound said.

On Saturday, Turkish warplanes also bombed PKK bases in the Kurdistan region's mountainous outskirts of Qandil, including the Sidakan sub-district and the villages of Enzi, Prdashal and Zargali.

Since July 24, Turkey has continued attacks against the PKK, in and outside Turkey, including in the Kurdistan region.

Turkey is starting a new offensive with "new strategies" against the PKK, including raids on the group in northern Iraq and Turkey's Kurdish southeast, Turkish media have reported.

QUETTA: A large quantity of illegal arms and ammunition was seized during an intelligence-based action carried out along the Pak-Afghan border in Chagai district on Wednesday.

A Frontier Corps spokesman said that FC troops and intelligence personnel raided the Killi Nafas Khan area close to the border with Afghanistan and found the cache of weapons.

“The consignment was concealed underground,” the spokesman said. No arrest was reported.

The arms and ammunition seized included 14 SMG rifles, two AK-47s, four LMGs, three snipers, one MI16 G3, two RPG7, four guns, one 303 rifle, 16 secondary RPGs and thousands of rounds and dozen of magazines. The FC spokesman said that arms and ammunitions had been smuggled from Afghanistan to Pakistan for carrying out terrorist attacks.

GWADAR: Security forces freed on Wednesday 22 passengers who had been kidnapped from a coach going to Gwadar from Karachi.

According to official sources, armed men on two vehicles intercepted the coach carrying around 25 people in Nalaint area of Pasni on the Coastal Highway and took away 22 passengers after identifying them.

The kidnap victims, belonging to different areas of the country, were going to Iran for their onward journey to Europe.

Armed men intercepted a coach carrying around 25 people in Nalaint area of Pasni and took away 22 passengers after checking their identity
Personnel of Army, Frontier Corps and Levies launched a joint search operation on the outskirts of Pasni and found the kidnap victims during a raid on a hotel.

One suspected kidnapper was arrested.

Brigadier Shehzad Iftikhar, who looks after security affairs in Gwadar district, said the incident was the outcome of a dispute between two gangs of human smugglers, adding that one of the gangs had kidnapped the ‘clients’ of the other.

One of the key suspects had been detained and efforts for arrest of others were under way, he said.

Commissioner of Makran Division Bashir Bangulzai said the kidnapped people were would-be illegal immigrants. They were going to Gwadar and intended to illegally enter Iran.

Human smugglers often take people to Turkey via Iran, from where they are transported to Greece and other European countries.

KARACHI: One man died and four other people were injured as a remote-controlled blast detonated near a bus terminal in the Lea Market area on Wednesday, Senior Superintendent Police-City Fida Hussain said.

The intended target has not yet been ascertained.

The blast had earlier been reported by television channels as a cylinder explosion.

The Bomb Disposal Squad said no pellets had been used in the bomb, which contained half a kilogram of explosives.

An investigation has been initiated into the incident.

Earlier this week, Karachi's Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) escaped an attack after an improvised explosive device (IED) lobbed into the parking lot of the CTD building failed to explode. The wires of the IED disconnected after it landed inside the premises.

The ‘operation’ against criminal elements in Pakistan’s commercial hub was initiated back in September 2013 and has gained momentum in 2015. The Rangers-led operation against criminal elements in the city focused on targeted killings, kidnappings for ransom, extortion and terrorism in Karachi during its first phase.

The second phase, which was announced in early November, will target terrorists, contract killers and their facilitators involved in attacks on law enforcement personnel, particularly police, lawyers and witnesses.

Karachi, a teeming metropolis of around 18 million people, is rife with political, ethnic, sectarian and criminal violence. Proscribed organisations have also used Karachi as a base to generate funds for furthering their anti-state agenda.

LAHORE: Haroon Bhatti, one of the founding members of the banned Lashkar-i-Jhangvi (LJ), and three others were killed in a police "encounter" in Lahore's Badami Bagh area late on Wednesday, a spokesman from the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) said.

The official told journalists that three police constables had also received bullet injuries during the encounter.

Police had brought back Bhatti, along with his four associates, to Pakistan from Dubai with the help of Interpol on October 22 this year.

The key LJ leader was reportedly accompanying the police and CTD personnel to assist them in identifying a house in use of suspected terrorists near Malik park in the Badami Bagh area when the encounter took place.

Know more: Five arrested LJ militants brought from Dubai

The CTD spokesman said the police party raided a house on the tip off to arrest criminals involved in sectarian killings. He added that the terrorists staying in the house offered resistance to the raiding party and opened fire.

Police said the raiding party resorted to retaliatory firing as a result of which the attackers were killed.

Police also claims to have recovered a huge cache of arms and explosives, including Kalashnikovs, rifles and hand grenades from the suspected terrorists' possession.

The three suspects were identified as Omair Nadeem, Omair Hassan and Noman Yasin.

Police officials feared that the men could have conducted massive sectarian-related terrorist attacks. Their bodies were shifted to the Mayo Hospital's morgue for legal formalities

I don't recall shooting along the border to cover infiltration recently -- perhaps we were distracted by bigger events elsewhere.

[AnNahar] The Indian army killed three suspected rebels and another person was rubbed out during a six-hour shootout Wednesday on a military camp in Indian Kashmire near the border with Pakistain, a military front man said.

Heavily-armed fighters stormed the army base in Tangdhar, 140 kilometers (87 miles) northwest of the main city of Srinagar, setting off grenades and firing automatic weapons.

"Three bad boyz were potted in the exchange of stand-off fire that began in the morning hours. One soldier was maimed in the firefight," defense front man in Srinagar N.N. Joshi told AFP.

A civilian who worked on the base was also killed in the firing, Joshi said, adding that the attack finished some six hours after the Death Eaters infiltrated the base.

Kashmire has been divided between India and Pakistain since the end of British colonial rule in 1947.

Both claim the Himalayan territory in its entirety and have fought three wars over its control.

QAMISHLI – Several secret tunnels carved by militants of the radical group of Islamic State (ISIS) have been found littered with drugs, copies of the Quran and U.S.-made ammunition in the recently liberated Yezidi region of Sinjar (Shingal) in northern Iraq, military sources reported.

They dig like Paleos...

Backed by the U.S.-led coalition’s air cover, the Kurdish Peshmerga forces were able to liberate the Yezidi areas after more than a year and a half from ISIS. Following the expulsion of the terror group, dozens of secret tunnels dug by ISIS extremists have been found in Sinjar by the Kurdish fighters and local Yezidi combatants.

Speaking to ARA News in Shingal, Yezidi fighter Rizgar Yawir said: “We were surprised that the deserted ISIS tunnels were provided with electricity, beside a number of sleeping dens lined with sandbags for military purposes.

“Remnants of food and unwashed plates were also found there,” he added, pointing out “some drugs, mainly painkillers, were seen on the ground”.

“During our inspection we also found several copies of the Quran hung on the walls of the tunnels,” Yawir told ARA News, pointing out that some of the U.S.-made boxes of ammunition and bomb-making tools were placed in the corners.

“A network of nearly 40 tunnels have been found inside Shingal,” Yawir added.

“Daesh dug these tunnels in a bid to hide from the U.S.-led coalition’s airstrikes and the shells of the Kurdish and Yezidi forces,” he told ARA News, using the Arabic acronym for ISIS.

“This would definitely have facilitated their movement during military operations,” he stressed. “It was a key depot of weapon.”

As Syrian Kurds were able to recapture the key town of al-Hawl in Hasakah province in northeastern Syria from ISIS, the Iraqi Kurdish fighters achieved parallel victory in Shingal (Sinjar). Thus, both sides were able to cut-off the vital supply routes from the ISIS de-facto capital in Syria’s Raqqa to the city of Mosul –ISIS major bastion in Iraq.

In the meantime, the Peshmerga forces have reportedly discovered two mass graves in Shingal after ISIS departure from the area. One grave included dead bodies of 76 women and the second one had 60 bodies of men, women and children. The victims are believed to be Yezidi civilians executed recently by the radical group.

In June, the Syrian Kurdish forces of the People’s Protection Units (YPG) discovered several tunnels used by ISIS insurgents to move between the villages of Sere Kaniye in Hasakah province.

The terror group has been engaged in fighting against the Kurdish forces for months before the latter, backed by Arab and Christian groups, were able to regain control of several strategic towns and villages in the province.

“We found tunnels that have been used by the group to move between the villages of Sere Kaniye’s countryside in order to avoid our (YPG) fire and airstrikes by the U.S.-led coalition,” YPG fighter Dafram Kortay told ARA News in an earlier interview.

The displaced Yezidi Kurds, who are currently based in refugee camps in Iraqi Kurdistan, are unable to return to their hometowns for fear of the land-mines planted by the ISIS terror group before its withdrawal from the Shingal region, Kurdish activists reported.

I'm alright and nobody worry 'bout me
Why you got to gimme a fight, can't you just let it be?
I'm alright don't nobody worry 'bout me
You got to gimme a fight, why don't you just let me be?
Do what you like doing it naturally
But if it's too easy, they're gonna disagree
It's your life and isn't it a mystery
If it's nobody's business it's everybody's game

(IraqiNews.com) al-Anbar – A local source in Anbar province said on Wednesday, that 11 people were wounded in an aerial strike by the international coalition that targeted a mosque in al-Ratba District west of the province.

The source reported for IraqiNews.com, “Warplanes of the international coalition bombed al-Zubair Mosque and one of the houses near it in the neighborhood of al-Mithaq in the city of al-Ratba (310 km west of Ramadi).”

The source, who requested anonymity, added, “The bombing resulted in the injury of 11 people, including a child and a man of great age, in addition to causing serious material damage to the mosque and the house.”

(IraqiNews.com) Baghdad – A source in the Iraqi police said on Wednesday, that five civilians have been injured as a result of a car bomb blast in the area of al-Mada’en in southern Baghdad.

The source reported for IraqiNews.com, “Today, a booby-trapped vehicle exploded at the entrance of the area of al-Wardiya in al-Mada’en, located in southern Baghdad,” noting that, “The blast resulted in injuring five civilians.”

“A security force cordoned of the area of the incident, while ambulances transferred the injured to a nearby hospital,” the source added.

(IraqiNews.com) Nineveh – A security source in Nineveh province announced on Wednesday, that 12 elements of the ISIS were killed in an air strike by the international coalition south of Mosul.

The source said in an interview for IraqiNews.com: “the international coalition aircraft carried out an intensive raid, targeting ISIS strongholds in the village of Sultan Abdullah in Qayyarah (60 km south of Mosul).”

The source added that “the operation resulted in the killing of 12 armed members of the ISIS, in addition to wounding others.”

(IraqiNews.com) Baghdad – A source in the Iraqi Interior Ministry, said on Wednesday that nine people had been either killed or wounded in a bomb blast southeast of Baghdad.

The source said in an interview for IraqiNews.com, “A bomb exploded this morning near industrial shops in Basmya area southeast of Baghdad, resulting in the killing of one person and wounding eight others .”

The source, who requested anonymity, added: “A security force rushed to the scene and transported the wounded to a nearby hospital for treatment and the body of the dead man to the forensic medicine department.”

(IraqiNews.com) Baghdad – A source in the Interior Ministry announced on Wednesday, that nine people had been either killed or wounded in a car bombing south of Baghdad.

The source said in an interview for IraqiNews.com “A car bomb exploded this afternoon in al-Wardiya area south of Baghdad, killing two people and injuring seven others, indicating that “the death toll may increase because of the severity of the explosion.”

The source, who asked not to be named, added: “A security force rushed to the scene and transported the wounded to a nearby hospital for treatment and the bodies of the dead to the forensic medicine department, while cordoned off the area and prevented approaching it.”

A slow day. It's not as easy for the boys to be boys when Israeli troops and police have flooded the landscape.

[Ynet] Attacker shot and killed after stabbing 20-year-old soldier at the Fawwar junction on Highway 60 in the West Bank.

IDF soldier was seriously maimed in a stabbing attack at the Fawwar junction near Hebron shortly before noon on Wednesday.

The attacker, Mohammad Shobaki, 19, lunged at the soldier during a routine security check at the entrance to the Fawwar refugee camp, where he lives.

Other soldiers at the scene shot and neutralized Shobaki. He was taken to hospital at death's door and succumbed to his wounds in the operating room.

Magen David Adom paramedics evacuated the 20-year-old soldier, who suffered stab wounds to his upper body, to Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem.

About an hour after the attack, some 150 Paleostinians hurled stones at IDF troops near the scene of the stabbing. The troops, who were stopping the Paleostinian rioters from reaching Highway 60, used crowd dispersal measures.

[Breitbart] TEL AVIV -- It appears the Pentagon is struggling with the same moral dilemma that confronts Israel in its own war on terror: How to minimize civilian casualties without compromising the aims of airstrikes targeting terrorist infrastructure in urban areas.

Social media is ablaze with claims that the Obama administration "tipped off" Islamic State terrorists 45 minutes before the U.S. Air Force destroyed 116 tanker trucks in the Al-Bukamal province of Iraq. The strike was intended to reduce ISIS's ability to transport stolen oil products.

The Pentagon's Operation Inherent Resolve Spokesman Colonel Steve Warren told reporters that before the mid-November airstrike, the military dropped leaflets warning truckers, "Get out of your trucks now, and run away from them."

#1
How to minimize civilian Muslim casualties without compromising the aims of airstrikes targeting terrorist infrastructure in urban areas.

The Muslim in heart if not chief, only tries to kill 'unauthentic' Muslims and not his kind. Same rationale of Sunnis and Shiites killing apostates, cause you don't kill other 'real' Muslims. Ike didn't have a problem hitting French railroads and yards (and French operators in the vicinity). It's war, not PR.

#3
In early September 2014 European Ambassador to Iraq [Jana Hybaskova of Czechoslovakia} claimed there were numerous reports emmanating from Eastern Europe that ISIS was receiving $3 million daily in sales of oil emmanating from Dier Azor and Raqqa. Three European countries were then said to be "unwittingly funding" ISIS. The report was slammed because of the great number of trucks that would be needed to move that quantity of oil. Little did anyone know that Obama had denied attacks on ISIS oil trucks. Thus, it can be truly said that Obama has helped fund the IS campaign and is responsible for the death of thousands.

#6
...I would respectfully point out that during WWII even as solid an advocate for total war as Curtis LeMay allowed the dropping of leaflets on targets to let the civilians there know we were coming. I don't believe this should be the case here; just pointing out that it does have precedent.

#8
I'm all for it!
"Dear Daesh, Wherever you go, whatever you do, we're going to find you and bomb you into oblivion. If anyone is anywhere close to you, they will also be destroyed. Sorry about that."

By Reuters, Beirut Wednesday, 25 November 2015
A Syrian military source said rebels are making heavy use of U.S.-made anti-tank missiles paid for by Saudi Arabia and supplied via Turkey in recent weeks and the weapons are having an impact on the battlefield.

The so-called TOW missile is the most potent weapon in the arsenal of rebel groups battling President Bashar al-Assad, and has been seen in action more frequently since Russia intervened with air strikes on Syria on Sept 30.

A rebel group was shown using one of the guided missiles to destroy a grounded Russian helicopter in Syria on Tuesday.

Addressing the increased supplies of TOW missiles for the first time, the Syrian military source said they had an impact on the fighting, but played down their overall significance, saying the army was gaining ground.

URFA – Kurdish forces of the People’s Protection Units (YPG) threatened to target any plane that intend to breach its airspace in the Syrian Kurdish region. This comes after two foreign military helicopters, believed to be Turkish, were seen above the suburbs of Qamishli in northeastern Syria, military sources reported on Wednesday.

There does seem to be a recent precedent about shooting down foreign aircraft in one's airspace...

“Two unidentified military helicopters were seen Tuesday night in Qamishli’s northern suburbs, specifically in Alyan area, flying over the oil-rich town of Rumelan and the petroleum stations of Tel Adas (Gir Ziro) as well as the village of Gir Ziyaret,” the YPG’s official spokesman Redur Khalil said in a statement on Wednesday. “The helicopters headed north towards the Turkish territory.”

“We, the YPG forces, warn if this irresponsible action (Turkish breach of Syrian Kurdish airspace) were repeated, we will take the necessary procedures to target any violation of such type,” Khalil stressed.

Speaking to ARA News in Rumelan, an informed source said the Turkish helicopters were roaming in a range of 20 km along the borderline with Syria, adding “one of these helicopters breached the region’s airspace almost three kilometers above Derona Aghe village north of Chel Agha.”

“The Turkish border guards are mobilized on the Turkish side of the border since Tuesday as security cars have intensified their movements on the borderline, which has raised Kurdish concerns,” the source said on the condition of anonymity.

Khalil’s statement coincides with the Russian government’s announcement about a possible plan by Turkish authorities over downing its fighter jet near the Syrian border earlier on Tuesday.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that the Turkish attack on the Russian warplane earlier on Tuesday appeared to be “an ambush”, describing the Turkish action as a “planned provocation”.

President Vladimir Putin considered Turkey’s downing of the Russian jet “a stab in the back”.

On the other hand, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a statement that the Russian fighter jet was downed “after failing to heed multiple warnings and crossing into Turkey’s airspace”.

“We certainly don’t have any idea to escalate this issue,” Erdogan added.

Moscow revealed Wednesday a plan to deploy an S-400 air-defense system at the Latakia military base in western Syria and provide air support for its warplanes from a cruiser in the Mediterranean Sea and by dispatching fighter jets to accompany bombing missions.

Syrian opposition activists considered the statement of the YPG’s spokesman on Wednesday as a “veiled threat” to Turkey, especially the Turkish forces have repeatedly threatened to hit the Syrian Kurdish forces for its alleged links with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

ALEPPO – The radical group of Islamic State (ISIS) pounded Wednesday the town of Marea in the northern countryside of Aleppo, northern Syria, with heavy weapons, causing the death and injury of several civilians, military sources reported.

This led to the outbreak of clashes between the terror group and the rebel fighters of the Levant Front in the area, amid intense airstrikes by the U.S.-led coalition on ISIS’s positions north of Aleppo.

Speaking to ARA News in Aleppo, Saleh Zein, a spokesman for the Levant Front, confirmed that ISIS militants have targeted the town of Marea with homemade rockets and mortar shells, causing the death of at three civilians and the injury of eight others.

“ISIS terrorists carried out a large-scale operation aimed at infiltrating into the heart of the town,” Zein said, pointing out “But, our fighters were able to repel the enemy’s attack, forcing it to withdraw after receiving painful blows.”

The hardline group, which was inflicted with heavy losses, withdrew to its bases in the areas of Telalain and Herbel.

In the meantime, warplanes of the U.S.-led coalition conducted several airstrikes on ISIS’s positions in the towns of Oum Housh and Qirat Mazraa in the northern countryside of Aleppo, causing direct losses in its ranks, Zein told ARA News.

“After targeting a tactical unit for Daesh, the raids led to the death of five insurgents and the destruction of a number of armored-vehicles,” he concluded, using the Arabic acronym for ISIS.

Over the past year and a half, ISIS extremists have been trying to storm the besieged town of Marea, but they are faced with fierce resistance from Syrian rebels despite the group’s use of toxic gases and car bomb attacks.

Noteworthy, Turkey has officially started with the initial steps of establishing a safe zone in northern Syria, after intensifying its military support to the Turkmen rebel group of Sultan Murad under the pretext of combatting ISIS on the outskirts of Jarablus, Marea and Azaz.

Moscow on Monday said its warplanes had hit 472 targets in war-torn Syria in the past two days, including tanker trucks and oil infrastructure in territory controlled by the Islamic State group.

“In 141 combat sorties in the past two days, warplanes of the Russian airforce struck 472 terrorist targets in the provinces of Aleppo, Damascus, Idlib, Latakia, Hama, Homs, Raqa and Deir Ezzor,” the Russian defence ministry said in a statement.

The military said that the latest strikes had destroyed 80 tanker trucks near the Islamic State stronghold of Raqa, as well as a large oil storage tank and a oil refinery south of the city.

The Russian defence ministry said last week that it was “hunting” oil transporters in a bid to cut IS financing and claimed that in the past five days some 1,000 fuel trucks had been destroyed.

The Russian military claimed that “terrorists” had suffered “serious losses” in Saraqib, a city in the northwestern province of Idlib province, and in the town of Qalaat al-Madiq in the Hama province.

#2
It's difficult isn't it? In due course there will be plenty of
F blowback, the disintegration of NATO, the loss of a Western looking Ukraine, the Finlandadization of the Baltic States and a nuclear Poland.

[AlAhram] The United States and its allies launched a fresh round of daily air strikes against Islamic State...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... on Tuesday, targeting the hard boy group with 18 strikes in Iraq and five in Syria, the U.S.-led coalition leading the operations said in a statement.

In Iraq, the strikes near 10 cities included six near Ramadi that hit five Islamic State tactical units as well as three fighting positions and five weapons caches, among other targets, the coalition said in the statement, released on Wednesday.

In Syria, five strikes near three cities also hit five tactical units and two fighting positions, it said.

A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.

Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.

Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.